A Different Kind of Leadership
Reprinted with permission
When putting a team together for any mission, the usual protocol is to gather the best. The most capable. The smartest, fastest, quickest, most resilient. Human recruitment rationale is, what is it that needs to get accomplished? Then, among those available, who are the ones that possess the highest level of skill to get it done?
Look at any Hollywood action film. Fighting a monster? Battling a natural disaster? Stealing a fortune? Get the best together, and get the job done. Look at the way corporations hire people. Look at the way sports teams recruit athletes.
When Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came into this world, His mission was to save the world from their sins. More than any mission in the history of the universe, this was the most critical. It was a mission that dealt not with the temporal salvation of humanity, but the eternal salvation of mankind.
OK, so this is pretty serious. Who can we get for this kind of mission? The first thing I would say is someone smart. You need someone to counter all the arguments, take care of the logistics, meet the opposition. You would need someone who could probably speak very well, to convince men of the error of their ways. Definitely someone who knows Scripture. You also need respectable people, otherwise the impact of the mission will only be so much. As far as character goes, passion, focus, and determination is a must. Don’t forget loyalty.
After His temptation, Jesus walked “by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. And going on from thence, He saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed Him.”
So far, He has four fishermen, to help Him save mankind from their sins, and eternal death. Yes, fishermen. A short while later, Jesus “saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and He saith unto him, ‘Follow me.’ And he arose, and followed Him.” Now He has a tax collector.
Four fishermen, and one tax collector, to help Him save mankind from their sins, and eternal death. Somehow Jesus ends up with seven more disciples, to bring it to a total of twelve.
This definitely wasn’t an all-star team to begin with. Nor were they an all-star team throughout the three years that Jesus spent with them. Constantly bickering about who was the greatest, misunderstanding the mission from the beginning, ambitious, prideful, stubborn, slow to understand, were the disciples. Three of them chose to sleep when He needed them the most. Two of them betrayed Him, one breaking His heart, and the other delivering Him to His death for the price of a mere slave. When on trial to die, all of them forsook Him and were scattered abroad. None took a public stance by His side.
Being God, Jesus knew all this. Yet He chose them anyway. Everyday He taught, fellowshipped, and spent time with them – knowing what was to come. What kind of leadership is this? Which educational institutions in the world espouse such a model? Which organizations throughout the world employ such a training method? None. This was a leadership that originated from heaven itself.
Against all odds, hope against hope, Christ’s mission was successful. After His resurrection and ascension, the work had to continue through the disciples. And they took up the call. They baptized thousands, cast out demons, healed the sick, and stood boldly in front of emperors. The once stubborn, impetuous, foolish, slow, and prideful men became the men to turn the world upside down. Their deaths? Crucifixion, flogging, stabbing, stoning, and torture. All for the sake of their Master. They died, having done all for the mission of saving mankind from their sins, and eternal death.
Great leadership isn’t accomplishing the mission with the most qualified. That’s just good leadership. Anyone can do that. Everyone does that. But it takes great leadership to take the most hopeless and useless, and turn them into something they could not otherwise have been. And this model comes only from heaven above.